No, both sides made the deal thinking neither side wanted the cuts and it would force a compromise.

I agree that neither side wanted these specific set of cuts but I also think that Repubs were fully confident that Obama was not going to around in 2013 and they probably expected to win back the Senate too

This thread reminds me of a conversation I had recently with a friend who's company just filed for Chapter 11. After the company wide meeting informing everyone the company was bankrupt, all people could talk about was whether or not they would be getting their parking spot they had been waiting to get, or if they were going to get donuts on Fridays still.

You all are arguing over the most nonsensical shit. Wake the fuck up and realize that both of these so called parties do not give a single fuck about us and that the government will do what's in it's own best interest. You are wasting so much time and energy arguing over things that, in the greater sense of it all, matter about as much as a grain of dust floating through the universe.

ahhh I see, so obama suggested and agreed to it thinking he would be president and have to deal with it?

thinking it would compel the Repubs to deal so as to avoid the cuts they truly don't want

it also allowed him to avoid having to deal with the debt ceiling during the election

Quote

According to the Office of Management and Budget, "bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate voted for the threat of sequestration as a mechanism to force Congress to act on further deficit reduction. The specter of harmful across-the-board cuts to defense and non-defense programs was intended to drive both sides to compromise. The sequestration itself was never intended to be implemented."